Source: newsthemegh.com
John Mahama, the 2024 NDC presidential contender, has received harsh criticism from President Akufo-Addo for his most recent attack on the judiciary.
On Saturday, September 2, during the NDC Lawyers Conference in Akosombo, Mahama accused Akufo-Addo of selecting judges from his party in an effort to sway judgments in their favor.
Thus, in order to equalize the bench’s makeup, he commanded NDC attorneys to get ready to apply for openings.
“Our lawyers, some of you must be prepared to go onto the bench, I know that some of you have very lucrative legal practices you will not want to leave and go onto the bench. But you can see what the current President has done; he appointed the largest number of judges onto the bench. More than 80 towards hundred and counting.
“He’s packed the court and we know that they’ve packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office.
On Monday, September 11, during the 23rd Annual Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Cape Coast, Akufo-Addo responded by saying that Mahama’s comment was extremely risky to the advancement of the nation and shouldn’t be said by a person of his status.
The President further emphasized that this is one of the most serious assaults on the judiciary’s independence in Ghana’s history and poses a serious threat to it.
“I have gone into this matter in detail because of a new issue which has been introduced into our public discourse by no less a public figure than the fourth president of the fourth republic, John Dramani Mahama who has told the world that I have packed the courts with so-called NPP judges and that one of the key purposes a putative NDC victory in 2024 will be to enable him to balance the courts with so-called NDC judges.”
“Not only are these concepts new in our public discourse but they are also extremely dangerous and represent the brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary by allegedly responsible politicians,” he said.